Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 10/20/2008 11:21 AM | National Challenges await 11 Acehnese villagers who have succeeded in bringing giant company ExxonMobil Corp. to a U.S. Federal Court, with the judge handling the case resigning from his post amid fears that revealing their identities might endanger their lives. Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) chairman Rafendi Djamin said Friday the plaintiffs were entitled to protection from the government as soon as they revealed their identities in court. The 11 Acehneses are currently hiding their identities under the names of John Doe I to John Doe XI. "As the trial starts, the public would find out their identities. This would endanger them as they could become a target of certain people," Rafendi told The Jakarta Post. "There are fears there will be some efforts to silence them, either through abuses or offering them reconciliation. In some human rights abuse cases, the victims were asked to withdraw their claims and offered (material) things in return," he added. The 11 Acehnese plaintiffs filed a pretrial motion against ExxonMobil to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in June 2001. They accused the company of supporting the Indonesian Military (TNI)'s alleged kidnappings, killings and torture in Aceh. In their motion, they have said the company was responsible for hiring security guards from the ranks of the TNI to provide security at ExxonMobil's natural gas facility in Indonesia, in spite of the soldiers' well-documented history of abusing Indonesian citizens. The motion was filed under the Alien Torts Claim Act (ATCA), which enables U.S. courts to try any U.S. company accused of perpetrating human rights abuses outside the country. On Aug. 27, 2008 the court's Judge Louis Oberdorfer ruled to proceed with the trial, saying the 11 Acehnese plaintiffs had provided "sufficient evidence, at this stage, for their allegations of serious abuse". Oberdorfer denied a motion for summary judgment from Exxon Mobil Corp. and its Indonesian subsidiary ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia (EMOI). The trial is expected to start by the end of this year or early next year, according to HRWG. However, another hurdle might block the way with Judge Oberdorfer resigning from his post. "This means there will be a new judge, who might have to study this case from the beginning. And we don't know yet whether the new judge shares the same views with Oberdorfer," Rafendi said on the sidelines of the HRWG launching of the case report. Rafendi asked the government to pay attention to the case, particularly to the protection issue. "The Foreign Ministry is responsible for accompanying and protecting the plaintiffs while going through the trial sessions," he said, adding the newly established Witness Protection Program Institute (LPSK) should also make a move on this. Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said it was still far from the moment to talk about the protection issue, because the government itself still could not accept the extra-territorial jurisdiction aspect in this case. "Basically, we can't agree to the trial because it has gone outside our country's jurisdiction," he said. Moreover, "Because the trial is in the U.S., the plaintiffs would get the protection from the local court and authorities." "The government is surely responsible to protect its citizens abroad, but we should also consider our office's resources there," Teuku added. EMOI spokeswoman Deva Rachman had previously dismissed all allegations against the company, saying the case was baseless as EMOI condemned all human rights abuses. "We're just an operator of state facilities. The state, in this case the Indonesian government, has the authority to guard its own strategic assets. All along, we have always shared everything we do with the government," she said. The National Commission on Human Rights deputy chairman Ridha Saleh said the Exxon case would serve as a reference for the commission in determining its next steps against human rights cases in Aceh. "We already established a special team to study human rights abuses in military operation areas in Aceh. The team will finish studying next month, and this (the U.S. court ruling) would contribute to our final result," Ridha said in the same discussion.

Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 07/15/2008 10:36 AM | Headlines Many Indonesians will recall the serial murders of alleged criminals more than 25 years ago as the National Commission on Human Rights this week launches an investigation into the killings. The commission's deputy chairman for external affairs Hesti Armiwulan said Monday its ad hoc team would start seeking evidence to determine whether gross human rights violations had occurred. Known as penembakan misterius (mysterious shootings), or Petrus, the incidents revolved around the execution of alleged criminals without trial between 1983 and 1985, which then president Soeharto said in his biography was "shock therapy" he himself condoned. Almost every day, corpses with gunshot wounds were found in streets, rivers, forests or open spaces for the public to see during the anti-crime drive. The rights body estimates the operation claimed between 6,000 and 8,000 lives. To kick-start the investigation, the rights commission members on Monday heard the testimony of Bathi Mulyono, a former Golkar Party member who claimed to have survived a number of murder attempts during the three-year crackdown. Bathi told the hearing that not all of the victims were criminals. "Some of them were named political foes of the (New Order) regime and came under the target of elimination," Bathi said. He said he was responsible for the 1982 riot in Lapangan Banteng in Central Jakarta as part of a campaign to discredit the United Development Party (PPP), the strongest rival of the ruling Golkar in Jakarta, ahead of the election. He said he and his friends were hunted down and experienced many threats following the riot, which he suspected were part of the regime's attempts to remove evidence. "Some of my friends were killed in front of their family members, while I managed to escape and hide for many years," he said. "Now that this case is opened for investigation, I hope the truth of history can be revealed." Edwin Partogi of the Commission for Missing People and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said the rights group had filed the report on the alleged extrajudicial killings to the rights body in January. Kontras' initial investigation found the murders occurred in 11 provinces: Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, East Java, Yogyakarta, South Sumatra, Lampung, North Sumatra, Bali, West Kalimantan and East Kalimantan. In Jakarta alone some 1,300 victims were identified between 1982 and 1984. Hesti said the rights body's investigation would last six months. "We can extend it if necessary," she said, adding the commission expected support from the Attorney General's Office and the House of Representatives to bring the case to an ad hoc human rights court.

Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 05/02/2008 1:46 PM | Focus Seto Tri Cahyo, 14, left his junior high school because he could not cope with the rising tide of surplus subjects sinking him under carriculum overload and teacher pressures. "When I hadn't finished understanding one subject, my teacher was already introducing a new one. It went on like that over and over again," Seto told the Post. This got worse as he was overwhelmed by a mountain of homework. "I was often asked to write out punishments like 'I did not do my homework because I am stupid and naughty'," said Seto, whose brother and sister were university graduates. Another teacher punished him by telling him to repeatedly write out hundreds of lines on paper, quite unrelated to educational needs or motivation. His slow progress in class caused another problem when his teachers relegated him to the back row of the class. "Only the smartest ones deserved the front row. Our teachers only explained things to them, ignoring the rest, including me," Seto told The Jakarta Post. Due to depression, Seto, a former student at the State Elementary School SDN Tanjung Barat 07 Pagi in South Jakarta, failed his final exams and could not go on to higher studies.

Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 02/10/2009 12:28 PM | Life Iqbal Mario Putranto is likely to celebrate his 30th birthday in the dark. Not because of a failure on the part of electricity company but because he will switch off the lights to show his support for Jakarta’s participation in the Earth Hour campaign. To raise awareness about global warming, Earth Hour asks residents like Iqbal to turn off their lights for just one hour on March 28 – as simple as the flick of a switch. “I’ll be celebrating my birthday at that time. Before the campaign starts at 8:30 p.m., I’ll spend my time with some friends and ask them to do the same,” Iqbal, an employee of a retail company in Jakarta, said. Iqbal signed up for Earth Hour 2009 a week ago; joining what organizers hope will be more than one billion other people across the globe wanting to send a message that individuals really can do something to help prevent climate change. “People have been skeptical about the ability of individual action to combat climate change,” Verena Puspawardani, campaign coordinator for the WWF-Indonesia, who are coordinating the event locally, said. “But this campaign is about to change such a perception. One person, living in one house, can really make significant contribution to the earth, even if only by switching off the lights for one hour.”

Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 07/11/2008 10:12 AM | National The Indonesian Press Council on Thursday said press freedom remains restricted in the country after four readers who had their letters of protest published in newspapers were taken to court. The council said all articles published in the media, including readers' letters, were technically journalistic works, and as such fell under the auspices of the 1999 press law. Four stall owners -- Kwee Meng Luan, Khoe Sengseng, Vivi Tanang and Pan Esther -- were sued by property developer PT Duta Pertiwi after protesting in the readers' letters columns of several newspapers two years ago, accusing the company of allegedly manipulating the status of building use certificates (HGB) for stalls bought from the company. The council says this incident is the first of its kind in the country. In April 2008, the North Jakarta District Court found Pan guilty of defamation and ordered her to pay Rp 1 billion (US$108,108) in damages. However, in the same court, Kwee was found not guilty by a different panel of judges who tried his case under the press law. Leo Batubara, the council's deputy chairman, said it was odd the same court issued different verdicts in identical cases. "It shows law enforcers do not embrace the same legal standards when handling similar press-related cases," he said. Leo said all published articles, be they opinion pieces or letters of protest, were journalistic works because the media was responsible for editing and publishing them. "Therefore, courts should use the press law rather than the Criminal Code when dealing with cases relating to journalistic works," he said, adding the use of the Criminal Code would in effect criminalize the press. The council and other press organizations, including Media Watch and Press Legal Aid, urged police, prosecutors and judges to include the council in matters relating to the press. "Because this is a matter of press freedom, the press should be allowed to facilitate such cases first before they turn into legal cases," Leo said. "President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said in a 2005 meeting with us legal process was the last resort when someone had a dispute with the press. Before that, the President said the person should first use their right to respond by sending a letter of protest. If it doesn't work, the person should ask the council to facilitate the dispute." National Police senior detective Brig. Gen. Badrodin Haiti said police could not prevent people from filing charges with them. "We can't force people to use their rights to respond or to ask advise from the council. They might not like those ideas and prefer to file a report," he said. The council also said strict disclaimers should be printed in readers' letters columns, providing guidelines on how readers should express their ideas. "We must keep media spheres free from disputes and clashes. We must also make sure all readers' letters use factual and unbiased language," council member Bekti Nugroho said. The council suggested the media share the policy implemented by The Jakarta Post of confirming all incoming complaints and giving the accused party two days' notice to respond. This would allow the media the chance to publish both the complaint and response on the same day.

Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 01/03/2009 10:33 AM | Headlines The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) plans to review a court verdict in which former top spy Muchdi Purwopranjono was acquitted of all charges in the murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib. The move comes as public suspicion grows that the verdict was part of a political machination allegedly cooked up by the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) and law enforcers to get Muchdi off the hook. Observers point to the retractions of testimonies by witnesses from the BIN, of which Muchdi was once a deputy chief, to back up the allegations. "We will discuss the urgency of examining the verdict at our next plenary meeting. The results of the 'public examination' will be presented to the Supreme Court as a recommendation," Komnas HAM chairman Ifdhal Kasim said Friday at a press conference. "We have acknowledged there was a game played by BIN agents during the Muchdi trial, in which they retracted the testimonies they had given to the police." Strangely, Ifdhal added, this unusual circumstance was overlooked by the panel of judges at the South Jakarta District Court when considering the verdict handed down Wednesday. During Muchdi's trial, BIN agents Kawan, Zondhy Anwar and Arifin Rahman revoked their testimonies, as did BIN employees Suradi and Imam Mustopha. Another witness, BIN agent Budi Santoso, failed to turn up at the trial despite dozens of summons filed by prosecutors.

Activists blow trumpets and horns in front of the state palace in Jakarta. The toots and blares were meant to mock the South Jakarta court decision at the end of 2008 acquitting former top spy Muchdi Purwopranjono of all charges in the murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib. (JP/Ricky Yudhistira)

Human rights bodies have promised to fight for an appeal of former National Intelligence Agency (BNI) deputy chairman Muchdi Purwopranjono's acquittal for the murder of human rights campaigner Munir Said Thalib. The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) chairman Usman Hamid on Saturday said the case should be President's Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's top priority. "Yudhoyono said the Munir murder case would test whether Indonesia had changed in terms of its human rights history," Usman said during a discussion. "The Kontras legal team will review the mistakes of previous trials. We hope to finish our work in two weeks," he added. The South Jakarta District Court acquitted Muchdi from the assassination charge, leaving former Garuda Indonesia pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto as the sole convict in the case. The Supreme Court sentenced Pollycarpus to 20 years' imprisonment. On Friday, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) revealed its plans to review the district court's verdict, saying the body suspected the verdict was a political machination of the BIN and law enforcers. Former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, who also attended the discussion, slammed the verdict, saying it provided solid evidence of a court mafia within the country.

Abdul Khalik and Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 01/02/2009 8:36 AM | Headlines The acquittal of former top spy Maj. Gen. (ret) Muchdi Purwopranjono of all charges in the murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib has incensed rights activists and observers.They said the verdict, handed down Wednesday by the South Jakarta District Court, insulted the people’s sense of justice and gave credence to public perception that the country’s legal system and law enforcers, including police, prosecutors and judges, lacked credibility.“It is the worst New Year’s gift from law enforcers to the people in their struggle for justice and human rights,” rights group Pijar Indonesia said Thursday in a statement.“The verdict threatens the country’s human rights defenders by implying you can walk away after killing them,” it added.The court decision has buried the truth of the mystery behind Munir’s murder, in which the judiciary was expected to uncover a “political conspiracy” involving the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), Pijar said.Setara Institute executive director Hendardi said the ruling preserved the legal impunity of certain officers in Indonesia, particularly military generals accused of rights abuses.

Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 01/02/2009 10:29 AM | Headlines Former top spy Maj. Gen. (ret) Muchdi Purwopranjono walked free on Wednesday after a court found him not guilty of masterminding the 2004 murder of noted human rights activist Munir Said Thalib. In response, assistant attorney general for general crimes Abdul Hakim Ritonga promptly said prosecutors would appeal the much-decried verdict. The prosecution, which had sought a 15-year prison sentence for the former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) deputy chief, has 14 days in which to file an appeal, he added. The South Jakarta District Court acquitted Muchdi of all charges of soliciting and premeditating the murder, and ordered prosecutors to release him from detention immediately. "The defendant has not been proven legally and convincingly to have ordered and planned the murder," presiding judge Suharto told the packed courtroom. "The court will thus restore the defendant's rights in relation to his dignity and moral status." The ruling was greeted by hundreds of Muchdi's supporters chanting the national anthem, while hundreds of Munir's supporters shouted in anger at Muchdi. A scuffle almost broke out, which police managed to defuse by dispersing the crowd. The prosecution failed to prove Muchdi had recruited former Garuda pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto to kill Munir, the panel of judges ruled.

Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 12/31/2008 10:50 AM | Headlines The Attorney General's Office on Tuesday quizzed Bengkulu Governor Agusrin Maryono Najamuddin as a suspect in a Rp 21.3 billion (US$1.7 million) corruption case. Assistant attorney general for special crimes Marwan Effendy said Agusrin was charged with misusing Rp 6 billion from the province's 2006 tax revenue. "We're going on the fact he used the allegedly stolen money. Our initial investigation shows he spent the money in an investment," he said. "(Agusrin) should have transferred the revenue to the Bengkulu coffers, but instead he deposited it in a temporary bank account for his own personal use." However, Marwan said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had not consented to the AGO's immediate detention of the governor. "The President only allowed us to question him, not detain him," Marwan said. In August, the AGO named Agusrin a suspect in the case, but subsequently failed to summon him because of a months-long wait for presidential approval to question the governor. The AGO is legally obliged to obtain presidential permission to arrest or summon a governor, regent or legislator in a criminal investigation.